Rivers and Capitals

Rivers and Capitals

RIVERS AND CAPITALS

Carole Mayrose

Northview High School, 1 Knight Drive

Brazil, IN 47834

August, 2001

Grade Levels: 9-12

Purpose: To show a relationship between rivers and capital cities.

National Geography Standards:

Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information for a spatial perspective. Standard 2: How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in spatial context.

Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface

Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems

Indiana Social Studies Academic Standards (World Geography):

Standard 1: Students will use maps, globes, atlases, and grid-referenced technologies such as remote sensing. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to acquire and process information about people, places, and environments.

Standard 2: Students will acquire a place-location framework for thinking geographically. They will identify the physical and human characteristics of places. They will understand that people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity and that culture and experience influence people's perception of places and regions.

Standard 4: Students will identify and analyze the human activities that shape the Earth's surface, including population numbers, distribution and growth rates, rural and urban land use, ways of making a living, culture patterns, and economic and political systems. Using grid-based technology (i.e. remote sensing and GIS) whenever possible, they will map the distribution of various human phenomena and look for spatial patterns that the maps reveal.

Standard 5: Students will analyze ways in which humans affect and affect by there physical environment.

Standard 6: Students will describe the influence of physical and human factors of the evolution of significant historic events and movements. They will apply the geographic viewpoint to local, regional, and world polices and problems.

Indiana Earth Science Standards:

ES.l.25 Investigate and discuss the origin of various landforms, such as mountains and rivers, and how they affect and are affected by human activities.

Materials Required:

  • map of the United States with states and capitals
  • colored pencils
  • atlas
  • road atlas
  • web address---
  • copies of the handout

Objectives:

Upon completion of this activity, the student will:

  1. Be familiar with the use of GIS for research
  2. Be aware of the importance of rivers to cities
  3. Analyze the placement of cities
  4. Know the names of rivers in the United States

Pre-activity work by the teacher:

Decide if you want your students to do all the states or some of the states

* copy United States map needed

* collect a number of road atlases

* copy state list

Procedures:

  • Pass out map of United States with capitals indicated.
  • Pass out forms to be filled out.
  • Instruct students in procedures.
  • Go to Internet lab.

Procedures continued:

  • Give first address for students to use ( click on "Maps", click on "expeditions Black and White maps." Go to the "select" box and start down the list of states. A map of each state will come up. Start at the top with Alabama and go to Wyoming. Check and see if the capital is on a river.
  • On the form fill in the capitals name.
  • Put a check mark if it is on a river, write "no" or put a "?" if not on a river, or body of water.
  • Write the name of the river on which the capital is located, or the body of water it is on (e.g. Atlantic Ocean).
  • Locate and label the river on the United States and capitals map by drawing the river on the map in blue.
  • After completing the list of states any capitals that were not shown to be on a river are to be looked up on a road atlas. If you now find the capital on a river, draw the river on the map in red.
  • Write a paragraph or two why you think so many of these capitals are on rivers.

Adaptations/Extensions:

One:

  1. Give each student the City and State Population Chart. Using the website: they are to look up the populations of the states and capitals they are assigned---all or a few.
  2. Then figure the % of the population that live in the capital.

Two:

  1. Assign each student a number of states. They are to find other large cities in the state that are on rivers and name what rivers. Collect the population numbers of these other cities.
  2. Figure the total population of these cities and work the % to the state population.

These two extensions are good for learning more rivers and practice for ISTEP .

Three:

  1. Assign each student a number of states and have them relocate the capital and justify why and where they have moved the capital.

Four:

  1. Added a column to your list for the date the capital was founded.
  2. Have the student discuss the transportation at the time of the founding of the capital or capitals.

Five:

  1. Use the original lesson for Europe
  2. Use the original lesson for Africa
  3. Use the original lesson for Asia
  4. Use the original lesson for South America
  5. Use the original lesson for the rest of North America and Central America

Evaluation:

  1. The accuracy of the map.
  2. The clarity of the map.
  3. The believability of the student’s reasoning.

References:

  1. Road Atlas

Rivers and Capitals

State Capital River Name River/body of water

______

Alabama

______

Alaska

______

Arizona

______

Arkansas

______

California

______

Colorado

______

Connecticut

______

Delaware

______

Florida

______

Georgia

______

Hawaii

______

Idaho

______

Illinois

______

Indian

______

Iowa

______

Kansas

______

Kentucky

______

Louisiana

______

Maine

______

Maryland

______

Massachusetts

______

Michigan

______

Minnesota

______

Mississippi

______

Missouri

______

Montana

______

Nebraska

______

Nevada

______

New Hampshire

______

New Jersey

______

New Mexico

______

New York

______

North Carolina

______

North Dakota

______

Ohio

______

Oklahoma

______

Oregon

______

Pennsylvania

______

Rhode Island

______

South Carolina

______

South Dakota

______

Tennessee

______

Texas

______

Utah

______

Vermont

______

Virginia

______

Washington

______

West

______

Virginia

______

Wisconsin

______

Wyoming

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